No abstract

From the whole herbs of Delphinium majus, three new C(19)-diterpenoid alkaloids, majusines A-C (1-3), and six new C(20)-diterpenoid alkaloids, majusimines A-D (4-7) and majusidine A and B (8 and 9), have been isolated, together with 15 known compounds. The structures of compounds 1-9 were elucidated by spectroscopic data interpretation.

Chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) without drug loading have diverse biological activity. In this study, we prepared CS-NPs, CS-NPs solidified by different amount of glutaraldehyde, and CS-NPs modified with either biotin (B-CS-NPs) or biotin and avidin (A-B-CS-NPs) and examined their cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells. The morphology and size were measured by transmission electron microscopy and photon correction spectroscopy, respectively. The extent of solidification was validated by the approach of sonication. Biotin connect density on the surface of B-CS-NPs and A-B-CS-NPs was determined by biotin assay kit. The results showed that most of the NPs were round and their mean sizes were all below 300 nm. Biotin connect density of B-CS-NPs and A-B-CS-NPs was 2.18 ± 0.36 and 1.26 ± 0.11 mol biotin/mol CS, respectively. At relatively low concentration, CS-NPs with higher extent of solidification exhibited more vigorous inhibitory effect against HepG2 cells than those without solidification. When NPs were incubated with cancer cells for 48 h, compared with CS-NPs, the anticancer activity of B-CS-NPs and A-B-CS-NPs was enhanced significantly(P<0.05). In addition, A-B-CS-NPs showed superior cytotoxicity over B-CS-NPs. This study demonstrates that modification with biotin and avidin may be an efficient way in improving antitumor activity of CS-NPs against hepatic carcinoma.

In this study, we evaluated the acaricidal efficacy of extracts obtained from the plant Eupatorium adenophorum against the common cattle mite Chorioptes texanus. The results showed that 95% ethanol extracts at concentrations of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 g/mL (w/v) were highly toxic to C. texanus in vitro, killing 100% of mites in 4 h. Similarly, petroleum ether extracts of E. adenophorum resulted in between 80 and 100% mortality of mites in vitro at concentrations of 0.1, 0.05, and 0.025 mL/mL (v/v) within 4 h. In clinical trials, all infected individuals completely recovered after two treatments administered at 7-day intervals and remained disease-free at 60 days posttreatment. The clinical effect of treatment with E. adenophorum petroleum ether extracts was similar to that of treatment with the acaricide fenvalerate. These results indicated that E. adenophorum contains novel potential acaricidal compounds that can effectively control mites in livestock.